Packaging method



Oct. 7, 1958 R. w. GRIESE EIAL 2,854,799

PACKAGING METHOD Filed July 31, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 i/w. LEV u I 6@2 Xz f 1 /4 g u! EH26 Fifi/ 7 n I ,M nf/ 41w INVENTORS .ROBERT .GRIESE BYBENNIE AFOTH Oct. 7, 1958 R. w. GRIESE ETAL PACKAGING METHOD 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 31, 1956 INVENTORS ROBERT W. GR! BERNIE A.

ESE R FOTH Oct. 7, 1958 Filed July 31, 1956 R. WCGRIESE ETAL 2,854,799

PACKAGING METHOD 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS ROBERT W GRIESE By BENNIE A.RAFOTH United States Patent PACKAGING METHOD Robert W. Griese, Neenah,and Bennie A. Rafoth, Appleton, Wis., assignors, by mesne assignments,to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New JerseyApplication July 31, 1956, Serial No. 601,275 2 Claims. (Cl. 53-32) Thisinvention relates to a substantially sealed package and its method ofmanufacture, the package being particularly adaptable for the packagingof a semi-hard extrudable material exemplified by ice cream, but alsoadaptable to the packaging of other and varied products.

In the present state of the art, ice cream, for example, is ordinarilypackaged in relatively thick and stiff printed paperboard containersbearing a waxed coating. The substantial quantity of paperboard materialrequired in the manufacture of these rather heavy containers necessarilyresults in a substantial cost factor in the packaging medium.

The principal purpose of this invention is to provide a packagerequiring materially less packaging material, which can be readilyprinted for identification and waxed or otherwise coated forleakproofness of the package, with closure of the package by means whichwill result in a substantially leakproof container. Further objects andadvantages of this invention will be made clear in the followingdescription and explanation of the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a series of the paperboard blanks whichcomprise one element of the container to be formed,

Figure 2 is a schematic layout of the steps involved in the packagingmethod,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the completed package showing aninitial stage of the opening thereof,

Figure 4 is a perspective view similar to Figure 3, but showing afurther step in the opening of the package, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the package in completely openedcondition.

The complete package of this invention involves two packaging elements,a paperboard blank, which, while relatively still, may be of a lightnessand thickness not presently in common use in packaging, and a thin,flexible sheet, such as waxed paper, foil, plastic film or the like, toprovide liquid proofness. The paper sheet or wrapping may be printed forpurposes of identifying the product to be contained in the package. Weprefer to use a blank with a thickness of about .009 inch or less, and apaper sheet of about .0025 inch, which compares with a thickness of .017to .026 inch for the paperboard presently used in the average ice creamcarton.

In a preferred method of manufacturing our package, the paperboardblanks are separated from a continuous roll. The paper outer wrapper inthis preferred method also is separated from a continuous roll thereof,successive independent wrappers being severed from the roll byconventional means as the packaging process is carried out.

Figure 1 shows a succession of our paperboard blanks as they would besupplied in the preferred method of packaging. As shown in Figure 1, anindividual blank 1 includes a front panel 10, main panel 11, rear panel12, cover panel 13 and opening flap 14 consecutively hinged togetheralong perforation or score lines 15, 16,

17 and 18. Main end flaps 19 and 20 and cover end flaps 21 and 22 arerespectively hinged to panels 11 and 13 along perforation or score lines23, 24, 25 and 26. Lines 25 and 26 provide a definite weakness in theblank, for a purpose explained later. 1

Blank 1 may be attached to a blank 2, consisting of similar elements,along lines of'weakness 27 and 28, these lines of weakness preferablycomprising very heavy perforations. However, these lines of weakness arenot essential to separation of the blanks during the packagingoperation. With similar reference numerals, blank 2 comprises panels andflaps 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 119, 120, 121 and 122 separated byperforation or score lines 115, 116, 117, 118, 123, 124, 125 and 126.Similarly, blank 2 may be separated. from a next successive blank 3,shown partially cut away in Figure 1,.by lines of weakness 127 and 128.

Figure 2 is a schematic layout of the method involved in forming ourpackage. A series of blanks as described above in connection with Figure1 is fed from a roll 30, being carried by conventional conveyors notshown and guided and fed by rollers indicated at 31. Consecutive blanksare severed by conventional means,

a such as a knife 32, at a first station of operation A.

The thus-severed independent blanks are at the next succeeding station Bformed into a receptacle having open ends and top. In this position,with additional reference to Figure 1, the main 11 and cover 13 panelsare erected perpendicular to rear panel 12, the remaining panels andflaps being carried therealong in their original relationship. The openends of the receptacle may if desired be closed by elements of thereceptacle-forming means. At this stage, the receptacle is below afilling head 33, through which the required amount of material to bepackaged may be deposited in the receptacle.

In the packaging of ice cream, to which our invention is particularlysuitable, the ice cream 4 may. be extruded through head 33 in asemi-hard condition, the consistency being such as to maintain theproduct in its extruded form. Head 33 is of course of size essentiallycommensurate with the dimensions of the blank panels, so that asubstantially perfect fit of the extruded material Within the receptacleis obtained. It is obvious that suitable and conventional means may beused to sever from the extruded material the proper amount to bedeposited in the receptacle for packaging. After the material isextruded into the receptacle formed as just described, the partiallyformed package proceeds to a station C where the end flaps 19 and 20 areclosed over the open ends of the receptacle, thence to station D wherethe end flaps 21 and 22 are folded to overlie flaps 19 and 20, and thento station E Where front panel 10 is folded over to close the open topof the receptacle.

The package may then be turned to lie upon its cover panel 13, as atstation F, and thence moved by conventional conveying means to stationG, at which point the operation of applying the previously-describedouter wrapper commences.

The independent outer wrappers, one of which is identified by referencenumeral 40 in Figure 2, may be separated from a continuous roll 41, andmay be printed with suitable indicia to identify the packaged product.The independent wrappers are severed from the roll by conventional meanssuch as knife 42, not necessary to be shown here in detail.

In our preferred method of forming the package, the filled receptacle atstation G is brought upwardly against wrapper 40 in such fashion thatone end portion 43 of the wrapper overlies the front panel 10 of theblankreceptacle as at station H. The wrapper is then pressed completelyaround the receptacle, with an intermediate stage shown at station I.The wrapper 10 is of predetermined dimension so that when thewrap-around operation just referred to is completed at station I theother end 44 of the wrapper will extend slightly beyond opening flap 14,so that this other end of the wrapper may be heat-sealed to the exteriorsurface of the wrapper adjacent the first end 43 in the position shownat station J. As this wrapping around operation is completed, theopening flap 14 of the blank-receptacle is automatically pressed tooverlie front panel with end 43 of the wrapper interposed therebetween.

The wrapped container then proceeds to station K where the side margins45 and 46 of the waxed wrapper are conventionally folded about the endsof the container and thence heat-sealed to each other and to flaps 21and 22 to provide a substantially leakproof finished package.

The mechanical elements and equipment needed to perform various parts ofthe operations just described are in each instance conventional and maybe purchased on the open market in any of several particular detailedforms. For this reason none of these elements have been shown in thedrawings or described in detail. This invention resides not in theequipment used to form the package, but rather in the unique method bywhich the package is formed from the combined operation of severalconventional items of equipment, and in the resulting package itself.

The finished package shown in small scale at station K of Figure 2 isfurther shown in Figure 3 in an initial stage of opening. In theformation of the package, opening panel 14 was not adhered to frontpanel 10 or to end 43 of wrapper 40, but the closure in this area wasobtained by the heat-sealing adherence of end 43 of the wrapper to theexterior surface thereof at end portion 44 adjacent fiap 14. it will beobvious that the remote end edge 29 (see Figure l) of flap 14 provides aslight but definite protrusion or unevenness in the exterior surface ofthe complete package. Due to this feature, the fingernail or anyrelatively sharp instrument can be conveniently used to make an initialbreak in wrapper 4G to give access to the free edge 29 of flap 14. Witha portion of edge 29 then accessible, flap 14 may be lifted, therebytearing through wrapper 40 as indicated at tear lines 50, 51 and 52 inFigure 3.

As shown in Figure 4, continued lifting force applied to flap 14 willresult in fracturing of wrapper 40 along the lines where it overlieshinge lines 25 and 26. The adherence of wrapper side margins 45 and 46to flaps 21 and 22 is stronger than the connection between these flapsand panel 13, so that this lifting also results in severance of flaps 21and 22 from cover panel 13 along the same hinge lines 25 and 26, thehinge lines providing substantial lines of weakness.

As shown in Figure 5, continued tearing of the outer wrapper along thejunctures of the panels of the blankreceptacle results in a completeopening of the package into flat condition, with resultant completeexposure of the contained product 4 for convenient access. Our methodand package thus provide a substantially sealed container, made from aminimum amount of inexpensive materials, which can be formed and filledwith conventional equipment at high speed.

While the above description sets forth details of a preferred form orour invention, certain elements of which might be modified in obviousfashion, it is to be understood that limitations on the invention areintended only as specifically set forth in the appended claims.

For example, the outer wrapper 40 may be inherently heat-scalable, ormay be coated with a heat-scalable coating, so that sealing of thepackage may be accomplished by high speed conventional means.

We claim:

1. The method of forming a package, the package comprising a relativelyflexible wrapper sheet and a relatively stiff paperboard blank dividedby cut and score lines into a main panel, front and rear panels and mainend flaps hingedly connected thereto, a cover panel hinged to the rearpanel, and an opening flap and cover end flaps hinged to the coverpanel, the method comprising erecting the main and cover panelsperpendicular to said rear panel to form a receptacle with open ends andtop, filling the material to be packaged into such receptacle in formcommensurate with the dimensions of said blank, consecutively foldingthe main end and cover end flaps perpendicular to the main, cover andrear panels to close the ends of the receptacle, folding the front panelperpendicular to the mainand cover panels and end flaps to close the topof the receptacle, applying one end of the wrapper to overlie said frontpanel, folding the opening fiap to overlie said wrapper and folding thewrapper about the receptacle with the end portion thereof opposite saidone end overlying and extending beyond the opening flap, adhering saidopposite end to the exterior surface of the wrapper adjacent saidopening flap, folding and adhering the side margins of said wrapper toenclose the end portions of the receptacle to form a substantiallyleak-proof package.

2. A method of forming a package according to claim 1., wherein saidblank is supplied from a continous roll thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

